Cowberry apple tree: variety description and characteristics, advantages and disadvantages

Cowberry apple tree is a tree that can be grown at home. Also suitable for large plantings in large areas. The plant is unpretentious, easy to care for. But besides the advantages, it also has some disadvantages. Nevertheless, the variety has become widespread in all regions of Russia.

Description and features

Cowberry variety blooms in mid-May, and ripens in late summer, in mid or late August. It was bred in Moscow during the pollination of the Slava Pobediteley apple tree by an unknown variety. For the first time, the description of this variety was put forward by A.V. Petrov in the 70s of the XX century.

It was bred for cultivation in the Central regions of Russia. However, the variety has excellent taste, unpretentious, resistant to temperature extremes. Therefore, it began to be grown in other regions.

The plant produces large oblong fruits. The average weight of one apple is 100 g. Apples are light cream with bright red patches. The pulp is very dense, sweet and juicy. Suitable for fresh consumption or for making compote.

Key Features

Before planting a plant at home, it is recommended to study its characteristics. This will allow you to find out what kind of yield, size, winter hardiness the plant has.

Sizes

Apple trees of this variety are undersized, dwarf. Therefore, their height is small - 2-3 m, trees develop at a slow pace. The crown is medium thickened, requires pruning. The branches are thin but strong.

Yields

The plant is quite productive. But in the first years of life, the tree produces a small amount of fruit. The tree gives the first fruits already for 2-3 years of life. The peak of productivity is observed by 7-8 years. Gardeners harvest up to 150 kg of apples from one apple tree.

Frequency of fruiting

Fruits ripen unevenly, gradually. Therefore, they have to be collected in 2-3 doses. Harvesting begins at the end of August and continues until mid-September. Ripe apples should be red-yellow in color. Ripe fruits often fall off on their own, so they are easy to pick.

Winter hardiness

The plant is characterized by high frost resistance. It does not freeze and does not die even in severe frosts. But to protect the roots, it is recommended to mulch them. And it is better to cover young branches with burlap.

Disease resistance

This variety is susceptible to scab development. Especially often it is affected during the rainy season. Black dots appear on diseased fruits protruding above the surface of the skin.

To avoid the appearance of this fungal disease, it is necessary to spray the trees in the spring with special antiseptic compounds.

Also, in the absence of proper care, fruit rot and cytosporosis may develop. Also, the plant is often affected by pests. Often it is parasitized by snails, caterpillars, aphids. Therefore, apples become wormy, their appearance worsens. To avoid this, proper care of the plants is required.

Advantages and disadvantages

The plant has the following advantages over other varieties:

Gives the first harvest very quickly. After 2-3 years, the first apples appear on the tree.
High yields. Up to 150 kg of fruits can be harvested from one apple tree.
Receiving crops regardless of weather conditions. The plant produces the same number of fruits in both dry and rainy summers.
Winter hardiness. Apple trees don't freeze. Even if some branches freeze, they will need to be removed in the spring, after which the tree will quickly recover.
Beautiful fruits. They have a good presentation, firm, attract buyers.
Low trees. The advantage of dwarf varieties is that they are easy to prune, making them much easier to care for.
Versatility. The fruits can be used to prepare preparations for the winter or eaten fresh.

The most significant drawback is weak immunity, which is why the plant is exposed to frequent diseases. Cowberry also has poor keeping quality, so apples are recommended to be eaten before December-January. They are poorly transported, severely injured on the road.

What are the subspecies?

Apple Cowberry belongs to dwarf plants. However, it can also be grown as a columnar. To do this, they are grafted onto super-dwarf rootstocks, after which they form a crown in the form of a column.

Dwarf

On a dwarf rootstock tree, the horses lie on top, the height of apple trees of this type does not exceed 2 meters. The crown of this species is recommended to be formed in tiers, then the culture will develop well.

Columnar

The benefits of this subspecies include:

Small trees, making them easy to cover for the winter.
Quick fruiting - already in the second, and sometimes in the first year of planting.
Great solution for small areas as you can plant as many trees as possible.

From the shortcomings, they highlight the fact that a very short period of fruiting - after 15 years, the culture should be changed.

Regions of distribution

The plant is common in the South-Central regions of Russia. It is grown in the Tver, Vladimir, Yaroslavl regions. Recently, the variety has become widespread in the Volga-Vyatka region.